Unit 5: A Guide to Tools Lesson 13: A Guide to Hand Tools I found this lesson to be very helpful in understanding what tools you will need if you are planning on being a hobbyist or pursuing gunsmithing full-time. Most tools won’t be needed unless you plan on opening a shop. I found that…
How to Get Involved in Competitive Shooting Sooner or later, most firearm users encounter the concept of competing against other forces. Hunting is competition against nature, combat is competition against other humans or against predators, while sporting competitions are a low-stakes way to test your own mettle. Come last in a competition, and nothing is lost…
The Firearms of Modern Hollywood Over the last two decades, there has been a rising trend in modern Hollywood blockbusters; action films are bigger than ever. With the ever-growing popularity of franchises such as the Marvel franchise, the DC Comics franchise, the Bourne Trilogy, and the Taken movies, and combining them with several excellent films…
21st Century Action Heroes and Their Firearms It’s difficult to say exactly when stories of vigilante justice became part of the cultural zeitgeist. As early as the 13th century, the legend of Robin Hood told stories of justice in an unjust world, and broadcast radio brought heroes like Zorro and the Lone Rangers into homes…
Unit 4: Step by Step Lesson 10 Unit 4’s first lesson is really an artist’s niche. You don’t necessarily need artistic ability to checker and carve, but the mentality does help. The amount of time and effort put into checkering can be very gratifying, from the different tools used to restoring original checkering patterns and…
The 70s and 80s: Firearms of the Anti-Hero and Action Stars Guns really took center stage in 1970s-80s action movies. Often, they were upgraded from the more realistic models mentioned in books to bigger, flashier, more powerful models. For example, in Death Wish (1974), a .32S&W kit gun became a large frame .44 Magnum. The…
Unit 3: Getting into the Nitty-Gritty Lesson 7 Unit 3, Lesson 7 starts with fitting custom recoil pads and learning how to fit these pads on different types of rifles for different uses. Their primary purpose is to provide a non-slip surface when placed on the shoulder. But beware; the cheap models only cost a…
50s & 60s: Firearms During a Cinematic Era This month I want to dive into the important role that firearms played in the cinematic era of the 1950s and 60s. The birth of gritty westerns, countless war movies, and TV shows filled the living rooms of America. TV shows like the Lone Ranger, Rawhide, and…
Unit 2: Prepping for Your First Project Lesson 4 Lesson 4 begins with repairing a wooden stock, with everything from prepping to starting work on it, all the way through actual repairs and finishing. The lesson outlines repairing and patching, planing rough surfaces, and finding the right piece of wood to patch broken or splintered…
Dueling in the Old West: The Art of the Quick Draw Although “pistols at twenty paces at high noon” are the staple of Western movies and novels, the reality of American dueling is altogether very different. The History of Duels The culture of duels originated as an East Coast phenomenon, mainly cosplaying the culture of…